smart TVs – VentureBeathttp://venturebeat.com
News About Tech, Money and InnovationFri, 09 Dec 2016 15:02:17 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.178053529Copyright 2016, VentureBeatVentureBeathttp://vbstatic.co/brand/img/logos/VB_Extended_Logo_40H.pnghttp://venturebeat.com
25040Venturebeat.comSamsung is adding SmartThing hubs to its 2016 HD TVs to control connected deviceshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/12/29/samsung-is-adding-smartthing-hubs-in-its-2016-hd-tvs-to-control-connected-devices/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/12/29/samsung-is-adding-smartthing-hubs-in-its-2016-hd-tvs-to-control-connected-devices/#respondTue, 29 Dec 2015 08:02:32 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1857127Your next Samsung HD television could be a hub that ties all the connected devices in your home together. The Korea-based electronics manufacturer revealed today that its 2016 smart TV lineup will contain SmartThings sensors, making it Internet of Things (IoT)-compatible. The company will be enabling support for its SmartThings technology regionally, but hasn’t yet […]
]]>

Your next Samsung HD television could be a hub that ties all the connected devices in your home together. The Korea-based electronics manufacturer revealed today that its 2016 smart TV lineup will contain SmartThings sensors, making it Internet of Things (IoT)-compatible.

The company will be enabling support for its SmartThings technology regionally, but hasn’t yet revealed where it’ll start. Presumably, it’s going to wait until the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month to divulge that information.

Samsung acquired SmartThings in 2014 for around $200 million. Through the deal, SmartThings would be able to expand its platform, which allows users to connect, manage, and control their smart devices and IoT services. The integration with Samsung hardware is a significant step, especially with the lineup that it has across televisions, washers and dryers, refrigerators, phones, and more.

“With Samsung Smart TVs working with the SmartThings technology, we have an opportunity to reach millions of households,” said Alex Hawkinson, CEO and cofounder of SmartThings. “Applying this technology into current household devices is a major step forwards that will make it much easier for everyone to experience the benefits of a smart home.”

Should this work out as Samsung hopes — by turning your television into the hub for the entire home — you’re going to have all pertinent information routed through the largest screen you own. Chances are, you’re going to have the TV on most of the time that you’re home, whether you’re channel surfing, playing a game, or streaming movies. So now you’ll get security notifications from people at your door, find out if your laundry is done, receive a notice if you’re low on milk, and much more.

If you’re interested in the IoT space, you might want to hold off on buying that new TV, at least for another month or so. The details available right now are pretty limited, so you’ll have to wait until the company’s announcement at CES next week.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2015/12/29/samsung-is-adding-smartthing-hubs-in-its-2016-hd-tvs-to-control-connected-devices/feed/01857127Samsung is adding SmartThing hubs to its 2016 HD TVs to control connected devicesSamsung Pay on TV lets you buy apps and games with your credit card, debit card, and PayPalhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/08/04/samsung-pay-on-tv-lets-you-buy-apps-and-games-with-your-credit-card-debit-card-and-paypal/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/08/04/samsung-pay-on-tv-lets-you-buy-apps-and-games-with-your-credit-card-debit-card-and-paypal/#respondWed, 05 Aug 2015 03:49:43 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1780176Samsung has introduced a new way for people to pay for content — right through their television. Called Samsung Pay on TV, it supports major credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, and other mobile billing options. At first, users who wish to enable this payment feature will likely need to enter in all the pertinent information […]
]]>

Samsung has introduced a new way for people to pay for content — right through their television. Called Samsung Pay on TV, it supports major credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, and other mobile billing options.

At first, users who wish to enable this payment feature will likely need to enter in all the pertinent information such as their name, billing details, etc. Then, to make a purchase, they will only need to press the “Pay Now” button on the screen and enter a four-digit personal identification number (PIN).

Samsung says that mobile device users will be able to transfer their account information and registered payment methods right to the television without opening a new account.

What exactly will people be able to purchase from their televisions? Movies, books, music, games, and anything else that can be found on a TV. In conjunction with the launch of Samsung Pay on TV, the electronics manufacturer said that seven game titles can be accessed through this new payment method: Gamefly Streaming, Buddy & Me, Deer Hunter, Eternal Warrior 3, Frontline Commando: D-DAY, Golf Star, and Casino World Championship.

In March, Samsung announced the creation of Samsung Pay, its mobile payment service. At the time, JK Shin, the chief executive and the head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics, remarked, “Samsung Pay will reinvent how people pay for goods and services and transform how they use their smartphones. The secure and simple payment process, coupled with our robust partner network, makes Samsung Pay a truly game-changing service that will bring value to consumers and our partners in the ecosystem.”

Obviously, while the company wanted to make it easier for consumers to pay for goods at merchant stores, it’s not far-fetched to think of Samsung extending its payment mechanism to other areas where purchasing activities take place.

The new Samsung Smart TV payment service is said to be initially available on select 2015 Samsung Smart TVs and 2014 Smart TVs in 32 countries.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2015/08/04/samsung-pay-on-tv-lets-you-buy-apps-and-games-with-your-credit-card-debit-card-and-paypal/feed/01780176Samsung Pay on TV lets you buy apps and games with your credit card, debit card, and PayPalJamil Moledina gives us a glimpse into the Google Play of 2020http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/06/jamil-moledina-gives-us-a-glimpse-into-the-google-play-of-2020/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/06/jamil-moledina-gives-us-a-glimpse-into-the-google-play-of-2020/#respondThu, 07 May 2015 01:19:53 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1722341VB EVENT: Google's Jamil Moledina predicts the next five years in the lifespan of the Google Play mobile (and now connected TV) store front.
]]>

SAUSALITO, Calif — Two years emerged as hyper-relevant during the GamesBeat Summit. The first was 2018. Jamil Moledina used his time onstage to discuss the Google Play store in terms of the later — 2020.

The five-year forecast for the reportedly most profitable mobile platform in the world included a variety of old and new investments. Most prominent among them is the capitalization on emerging market trends. The successful release of Google Cardboard last year (500 thousand having shipped since last December, according to Moledina’s figures) acted as an encouraging indicator to the company over the potential for virtual reality. Simplified play, that being games that distill their content toward mobile functionality (or “app ecosystems,” as Moledina described), will also be a key investment for Google in the next five years. Those app ecosystems won’t exist on just mobile products, either, with an increased roll out of Play-compatible smart TVs expected over the next five years.

But the future isn’t entirely reliant on the new. Google Play has discovered, Moledina said, significant success in translating existing games like Goat Simulator and Limbo to not only mobile phones and tablets but smart TVs. Individual titles don’t get all of the attention on the storefront, though. Brand support, particularly through curated collections like the May the 4th Star Wars selections on the Play store, will continue to drive a lot of the company’s store-facing interaction with customers.

In a similar regard, Moledina announced a plan to further revive classic games on Google’s mobile (and, in particular, TV) platforms. Beloved titles like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and NBA Jam were confirmed alongside recent hits like TellTale’s Game of Thrones series and the mobile hit Crossy Road for the first time to soon be available on connected TVs. The market for which, according to Strategy Analytics study cited during Moledina’s speech, was estimated at a total of 2 billion available devices by 2018.

Moledina concluded by referencing a point made the day before by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. For all of the hype given to augmented and virtual reality at this year’s summit, he suggested that the potential market impact for connected TVs not be overstated.

“We talked a lot at this summit about finding the next ‘blue ocean,'” said Moledina. “I believe this to be one of them.”

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2015/05/06/jamil-moledina-gives-us-a-glimpse-into-the-google-play-of-2020/feed/01722341Jamil Moledina gives us a glimpse into the Google Play of 2020It’s too early to let Samsung off the hook for smart TV eavesdroppinghttp://venturebeat.com/2015/02/10/its-too-early-to-let-samsung-off-the-hook-for-smart-tv-eavesdropping/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/10/its-too-early-to-let-samsung-off-the-hook-for-smart-tv-eavesdropping/#respondWed, 11 Feb 2015 00:25:34 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1659101For all its work to move words around today, Samsung didn't say it would fix the technology that could threaten users' privacy, nor has it explained why it included that scary sentence in its privacy policy to begin with.
]]>

Samsung said today that it has reworded the sentence in its privacy policy that caused an uproar among media and privacy rights advocates last week.

The line warned that Samsung smart TV owners should watch what they say in front of the set, because the voice-recognition technology inside the TV might capture what they say and send it to a third party.

For your reference, the actual line read: “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of voice recognition.”

But for all its work to move words around today, Samsung didn’t say it would fix the technology that could threaten users’ privacy, nor has it explained why it included that scary sentence in its privacy policy to begin with.

It’s too soon to let Samsung off the hook for this.

This is not privacy paranoia. Companies have a very real business interest in collecting, storing, and acting upon the audio cues that come out of viewers mouths in the living room. I’ve personally talked to sources high up in the interactive advertising industry who are following this story closely.

The living room conversations of viewers could, after all, reveal their personal information and product preferences, which could be very valuable to third parties who might use the information to target ads and such. Advertising, after all, is supposed to be one of the great promises of smart TVs, making it easier to track how and when viewers respond to various types of content, including ads.

Samsung explained in today’s blog that its TVs use two separate microphones to listen for two types of voice information. A microphone in the TV listens for a limited set of voice commands, like “change channel” or “volume up” and can’t act upon other terms. In the blog post, Samsung points out that this type of voice data “is neither stored nor transmitted.”

But in the rewritten privacy statement it says this: “To provide you the Voice Recognition feature, some interactive voice commands may be transmitted (along with information about your device, including device identifiers) to a third-party service provider (currently, Nuance Communications, Inc.) that converts your interactive voice commands to text and to the extent necessary to provide the Voice Recognition features to you.”

OK, so which is it? Are the TVs transmitting voice data or not? And more important: Is the data being stored? Samsung says Nuance is “currently” the third party collecting the data, but could some other third party get access to it in the future?

A second microphone, Samsung explains, is in the remote control. This one is smarter because it listens for free-form search requests, like “recommend a good adventure movie starring Tom Cruise.” Samsung does not say in its blog today that it never stores or transmits this type of voice data.

It’s the data collected by that second microphone that we should be concerned about. Here’s the line in Samsung’s rewritten privacy statement that addresses that:

“Samsung will collect your interactive voice commands only when you make a specific search request to the smart TV by clicking the activation button either on the remote control or on your screen and speaking into the microphone on the remote control.”

This voice data is directly related to programming content. Samsung says it will “collect” these voice commands, presumably to learn about what TV shows, movies, and actors the viewer likes. This might help the TV make smarter suggestions in the future.

But what about the conversation happening in the room? In its blog, Samsung explains that this type of recording can only happen when the user has pushed the microphone button on the remote But nowhere does that privacy statement preclude that practice. Samsung simply removes the warning statement, but it does not pledge to never transmit or store such data.

It does, however, make clear that users can turn off the voice recognition features if they want to. The question then becomes: How easy is it to do this? How many menus and submenus must people swim through?

It’s easy to get the impression that Samsung opened up a can of worms here by being truthful in its original privacy statement, and now it’s having trouble getting all the worms back in the can. Despite Samsung’s statements today, lots of questions remain about what the company is doing with voice recognition data now, and what it might do with it in the future.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/10/its-too-early-to-let-samsung-off-the-hook-for-smart-tv-eavesdropping/feed/01659101It’s too early to let Samsung off the hook for smart TV eavesdroppingSkype brings free group video calls and full HD support to Samsung Smart TVshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/01/16/skype-now-offers-free-group-video-calls-and-full-hd-support-on-samsung-smart-tvs/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/16/skype-now-offers-free-group-video-calls-and-full-hd-support-on-samsung-smart-tvs/#respondFri, 16 Jan 2015 10:41:11 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1643646Nine months after Skype revealed it was making group video calls free for Windows, Mac, and Xbox One users, the feature is now being made available gratis on TVs too, alongside full HD support.
]]>

Skype has been available on Samsung TVs for a while, but the group video chat feature has hitherto been absent, even for Premium subscribers. With the launch of Skype 4.0 today, anyone with a compatible Samsung Smart TV with built-in camera can now access the service for free.

Group chat on TV appears to have a three-person limit, however, as the Skype blog post refers specifically to a “3-party group video call.” This doesn’t seem all that much when you consider the desktop version allows up to 10 people.

Interestingly, Skype will also be made available in full HD (1080), though again all parties must have compatible HD screens, cameras, and the latest version of Skype installed.

Google+ Hangouts has offered free group chats for a while, so it was inevitable that Microsoft would start offering the feature across its myriad of platforms too. Though Skype now offers free group chats on desktop, console, and TV, there is still one glaring omission here — mobile.

Skype previously revealed it would be rolling out the free offering for other platforms, so it’s likely that smartphones and tablets will be added in the foreseeable future.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/16/skype-now-offers-free-group-video-calls-and-full-hd-support-on-samsung-smart-tvs/feed/01643646Skype brings free group video calls and full HD support to Samsung Smart TVsSamsung unveils new 4K TVs with ‘SUHD’ screen techhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/01/05/samsung-unveils-new-4k-tvs-with-suhd-screen-tech/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/05/samsung-unveils-new-4k-tvs-with-suhd-screen-tech/#respondMon, 05 Jan 2015 22:25:46 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1635920The electronics maker also announced that over 500 4K movie titles were available via its media platform.
]]>

Samsung announced a new 88-inch television screen that features an upgraded 4K picture quality via its “SUHD” technology during a press event today at CES 2015.

If you’re confused as to what “SUHD” (aka Samsung Ultra High Definition) is, don’t fret. Basically, Samsung said it’s able to deliver better video quality using its nano semiconductor crystal tech than you’d find on a regular 4K TV screen. The screen itself is more than twice as bright as a traditional set, and it can deliver deeper blacks. That means richer, more accurate colors, among other things. (At the same time, it seems like a marketing strategy to rebrand Samsung’s line of 4K TVs.)

Samsung was quite proud of its efforts to support not only 4K screens, but also content, having made over 500 4K movie titles available via its media platform. The company also revealed that it teamed up with 20th Century Fox to make sure the picture quality for Fox movies was optimized using a remastering picture engine.

The company said that its SUHD television screens don’t just improve the color detail and accuracy of 4K content, but also of boring regular HD video as well.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/05/samsung-unveils-new-4k-tvs-with-suhd-screen-tech/feed/01635920Samsung unveils new 4K TVs with ‘SUHD’ screen techNetflix starts recommending smart TVs so you don’t buy a dudhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/01/05/netflix-starts-recommending-smart-tvs-so-you-dont-buy-a-dud/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/05/netflix-starts-recommending-smart-tvs-so-you-dont-buy-a-dud/#respondMon, 05 Jan 2015 17:47:44 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1635613With CES now in full swing, Netflix is rolling out a new program to help its users purchase the best smart TVs for streaming video, the company announced today.
]]>

With CES 2015 now in full swing, Netflix is rolling out a new program to help its users purchase the best smart TVs for streaming video, the company announced today.

The “Netflix Recommended TV” program is an independent evaluation of all the available products worth looking at, which the company claims to be independent of its business interests. (Netflix doesn’t make TVs so staying objective shouldn’t be a problem.) The program is meant to suggest TV sets created with a great streaming media experience in mind. These days there are tons of options, too. Just yesterday, leading set-top box maker Roku announced it was partnering with Best Buy’s Insignia brand and Haier to include its operating system on a new line of smart TVs.

The move makes sense for Netflix because it’s a company that has remained very transparent about its goals, ambitions, and competition from a growing number of rivals. That sort of trust will help add some credibility to its new TV Recommendation program. Also, Netflix has become very good at making sure the streaming video service experience is excellent regardless of the platform or device. (Seriously, Netflix is consistently the only app that never screws up for me on Roku, Xbox 360, and Amazon Fire.) So, the only logical step to improve its customers’ viewing experience would be to upgrade the hardware they’re using.

TVs that gain a recommendation from Netflix will feature a new logo that I’m assuming will get plastered on retail product boxes and advertisements, which could entice some people to buy it over non-recommended TV sets.

A slew of new Roku-powered smart television sets are heading to market in 2015, Roku announced today ahead of this week’s CES event in Las Vegas.

Roku TVs are smart TVs that are powered by Roku’s super simple operating system featured on the company’s line of set-top boxes, which means you don’t need additional gadgets to access Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and other streaming services. The first wave of Roku TVs was first announced at last year’s CES, with the set-top box maker initially partnering with television manufacturers HiSense and TCL. Judging from today’s announcement, I’m guessing that Roku was pleased with this strategy (as were its partners) because TCL is planning to launch 12 new Roku TV sets in the new year.

In addition to the added TCL products, Roku also announced that Best Buy’s private label TV brand Insignia and TV maker Haier will also be offering Roku-powered smart TVs in retail stores for 2015.

Both of the aforementioned TV makers are known for producing products that fall on the lower end of the pricing spectrum. That means there could be plenty of consumers looking for a low-cost smart TV that have never encountered Roku — which, in turn, could translate to new customers for Roku (via on-demand video rental partnerships or further into the future).

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/04/roku-teams-up-with-best-buy-haier-for-new-roku-powered-smart-tvs/feed/01635215Roku teams up with Best Buy & Haier for new Roku-powered smart TVsPaymentwall launches a payment suite for smart TVs so you can buy with your remote control — or smartphonehttp://venturebeat.com/2014/11/06/paymentwall-launches-a-payment-suite-for-smart-tvs-so-you-can-buy-with-your-remote-control-or-smartphone/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/06/paymentwall-launches-a-payment-suite-for-smart-tvs-so-you-can-buy-with-your-remote-control-or-smartphone/#respondThu, 06 Nov 2014 13:00:49 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1597571Paymentwall hopes to simplify global payments for applications on smart TVs.
]]>

Paymentwall is hoping to fuel the growth of smart TVs by making it easier for people to buy things using them.

A global payment platform, San Francisco-based Paymentwall has assembled the software necessary to monetize digital goods and services. Today, it is unveiling PW Smart TV, a payment solution that developers can plug into their applications that run on smart TVs. Those applications can include games, movies, and other content on smart TVs, which are connected to the Internet. Market research firm NPD predicts that by next year, there will be more than 200 million Internet-enabled TVs in the U.S.

With the Paymentwall solution on their smart TVs, consumers can browse through applications using a remote control or secondary devices such as smartphones. When they see something they want, they can buy it. PW Smart TV enables the developers to accept payments from consumers worldwide through several easy checkout methods and more than 120 different payment options, including credit and debit cards, eWallets, bank transfers, prepaid cards, mobile payments, and more.

That helps solve a big problem as the payment options so far have been designed to cater mostly to customers in the U.S. Paymentwall’s software figures out where the users are paying from, and it displays local payment options that work in the specific region, even if it is in a developing nation. The company says it also simplifies the smart TV checkout process to increase conversion rates. Paymentwall says that making payments from a remote control has been a clunky and burdensome task that’s resulted in a lot of abandoned purchases.

“Many smart TV developers were struggling to make money; they had no way to cover the development costs and content licensing fees,” said Honor Gunday, the founder and CEO of Paymentwall, in a statement. “Paymentwall is giving developers and content providers a simple, effective way to collect payments for smart TV content directly on the device itself while providing users throughout the world with a plethora of global and localized payment options to choose from.”

Paymentwall’s solution has cross-platform functionality, allowing inputs via remote controls or other devices. It allows developers to accept payments in more than 80 currencies. And it has secure card tokens, making one-click checkout easier, the company said.

Guney Yasavur, the CEO of SPI International, said in a statement, “I’m extremely excited about the launch of this smart TV payments product. One of the biggest problems I’ve noticed as more and more smart TVs become available in the market globally is that the content offered on the smart TV isn’t actually accessible for many global customers due to a lack of payment solution tailored for smart TV and remote control. With Paymentwall’s new user interface, our subscribers can make their payments much easier and more securely.”

Paymentwall was founded in 2010, and it has 110 employees. It says it has processed payments for more than 150 million unique users across more than 50,000 merchants. Rivals include Braintree (part of PayPal), Apple Pay, Stripe, Boku, and Adyen. Paymentwall is self-funded. It started as an alternative offer-wall provider when Facebook gaming was thriving. Paymentwall set up a technology platform that would enable the developers to accept not just credit cards and mobile payments but other solutions like prepaid cards, digital currencies, and eWallets.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/06/paymentwall-launches-a-payment-suite-for-smart-tvs-so-you-can-buy-with-your-remote-control-or-smartphone/feed/01597571Paymentwall launches a payment suite for smart TVs so you can buy with your remote control — or smartphoneChromecast tops the list of most popular apps for connected TVs and other smart deviceshttp://venturebeat.com/2014/10/08/chromecast-tops-the-list-of-most-popular-apps-for-connected-tvs-and-other-smart-devices/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/08/chromecast-tops-the-list-of-most-popular-apps-for-connected-tvs-and-other-smart-devices/#respondWed, 08 Oct 2014 14:59:35 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1571347Media, health, and productivity are the most-downloaded apps on connected devices.
]]>

Google’s Chromecast media-streaming app is the most popular app in the U.S. for connected devices such as smart TVs, according to a report by market researcher App Annie.

The other top-ranking apps for August include health and fitness app Fitbit, AT&T’s DirecTV media app, Hewlett-Packard’s HP ePrint productivity app, and Eastman Kodak’s Kiosk Connect. These apps are at the top of the heap in a market that is expected to drive more than $61 billion in revenue this year and grow at a compound annual growth rate of 52 percent over the next five years, App Annie said.

Chromecast uses a $35 dongle to connect a mobile device to a TV, allowing users to stream high-definition pictures and videos to a TV from a mobile device or web browser.

App Annie said that the top-five ranking health and fitness apps grew 2.3 times in monthly downloads in August 2014, compared to August 2013. The top five media apps accounted for 40 percent of all downloads in August. That makes sense, because smart TVs are media devices. But the connected device market goes beyond TVs and includes refrigerators and cars.

Market researcher Gartner forecasts that 26 billion connected devices will be online by 2020. The top six major categories for mobile apps on connected devices are Health & Fitness, Media, Productivity, Car, Home, and Watch.

App Annie looked at 30 top apps this year. It found that 27 of those apps were available last year and that they grew in aggregate downloads more than 50 percent. By comparison, all apps outside of games grew 2 percent in the U.S.

After media, productivity was the second-largest subcategory, with about 30 percent of downloads and four apps in the top 10. Health and fitness was third, followed by the car, home, and watch categories.

GoPro, the maker of mobile sports cameras, ranked high in the media subcategory for its adventure media channels. Gaming apps from the PlayStation and Xbox consoles also did well, particularly those that let users record and share their gameplay via livestreams. For instance, the Xbox One Smartglass app allows a player to use a smartphone to deploy special weapons in an Xbox One console game.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/08/chromecast-tops-the-list-of-most-popular-apps-for-connected-tvs-and-other-smart-devices/feed/01571347Chromecast tops the list of most popular apps for connected TVs and other smart devices24 million Internet-connected TV Sets Sold in China in 2013: iResearch Reporthttp://venturebeat.com/2014/06/30/24-million-internet-connected-tv-sets-sold-in-china-in-2013-iresearch-report/
Tue, 01 Jul 2014 05:00:31 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?post_type=vb_syndicated&p=1499549Smart TV sales are growing in China, but users can't get the same content that's available on their PCs due to government restrictions.
]]>

In 2013, 23.97 million Internet-connected TV sets were sold in China, according to the latest report released by Chinese research firm iResearch. The Internet-connected TV sets include both smart TVs installed with an operating system and traditional TVs that can get connected to Internet-enabled devices and display the contents from those devices.

iResearch estimates that Internet-enabled TVs as a percentage will continue to grow as the household broadband penetration rate is increasing and device makers are heavily promoting their products.

However, it’s not that Chinese users can enjoy whatever is available on their PCs or other connected devices on their smart TVs or through set-top boxes. SARFT, the Chinese state administration for film, television, and other content only allows seven enterprises to provide videos for set-top boxes or smart TVs. None of the seven is as popular as video sites such as Youku-tudou, iQiyi, and LeTV.

Last week, the SARFT issued a notice asking set-top boxes such as Alibaba’s Tmall Box to stop providing those popular video services. A couple of days later, the SARFT launched an operating system for smart TV. It’s unknown whether it will require all the smart TV makers to adopt it. It is believed the operating system cannot be as well developed as those by experienced Internet companies such as Xiaomi and LeTV.

Smart TVs share some characteristics with smartphones — a reliance on apps and constant Internet connectivity, for example — but otherwise they’re still pretty dumb.

Pixie, a new Smart TV app emerging today from Samsung’s Accelerator in New York City, could finally give your TV some brains. It lets you bring streams of news, social media updates, and other web content alongside what you’re watching on TV.

You can think of Pixie like a fully customizable on-screen news ticker, similar to what you see on MSNBC or ESPN. It delivers short updates that appear right under your TV shows, and you can also click on those updates for more details (including larger photos from its Instagram app and full articles from news sites).

The goal? To put more content that you want to see right on your TV so you don’t have to juggle a smartphone or tablet. Pixie seems ideal for those times when you want to veg on your couch but still want to stay up to date with the latest news. It currently supports 10 “cards” (mini-apps), including Twitter, Facebook, ESPN, CNN, and Rotten Tomatoes.

Kai Bond, Pixie’s founder and CEO, joined the Samsung Accelerator a year ago with the basic idea for Pixie. Coming off of a string of mobile and gaming companies, he wanted to develop a new kind of Smart TV app. And, as Bond explains, he chose to set up shop at Samsung’s Accelerator because it provides funds and support for innovative new ideas, and it also gave him the freedom to focus entirely on the product.

Samsung owns the IP of startups coming out of its accelerator, and, if successful, they can also be spun out as separate companies. Pixie is one of the first products to emerge from Samsung’s new startup shop.

Pixie is available free today on Samsung’s Smart TV app store, and it could easily be ported to other TV platforms, Bond tells me.

Pixie has already scored a content deal with CBS for its Fantasy Football apps, allowing football fans to track their team’s performance in real time during games. Pixie ended up seeing around 35 hours of usage per month from each of those fans, which is a clear sign the company is on to something. Pixie is web-based, so it’s fairly simple for companies to whip up a custom card that takes advantage of their data feeds.

There’s also the potential for more than just displaying data — companies can implement ads within their Pixie feeds, for example. Bond also demonstrated a prototype feature that can bring up trivia automatically from Rotten Tomatoes are you’re watching a movie.

When asked if he felt that Pixie might have been better off as a standalone startup, one that he completely owned and controlled, Bond didn’t seem too concerned. “I want millions of people using my app. At the end of the day, what you care about most is having happy users,” he said. He’s also been through startups in the past that didn’t leave him with much when they fell apart.

The Smart TV landscape today is more akin to the pre-touchscreen days of the mobile industry, when BlackBerry ruled and Windows Mobile devices seemed innovative. We can see the potential in connected and powerful televisions, but aside from apps that point us to services like Netflix and Hulu, most of that potential remains untapped.

Pixie could be the first in a new wave of Smart TV apps that finally takes advantage of connectivity and contextual relevance to enhance your viewing experience rather than just replacing it.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2014/06/13/pixie-is-a-smart-tv-app-that-can-actually-make-your-tv-smart/feed/01491567Pixie is a Smart TV app that can actually make your TV smartPanasonic bets smart TVs will get smart enough to run lots of web appshttp://venturebeat.com/2014/01/19/panasonic-bets-that-smart-tvs-are-going-to-get-smart-enough-to-run-lots-of-web-apps/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/19/panasonic-bets-that-smart-tvs-are-going-to-get-smart-enough-to-run-lots-of-web-apps/#respondSun, 19 Jan 2014 20:05:07 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=884837If our TVs get smart enough, will we need other set-top boxes?
]]>

Since 2008, Panasonic has been building Internet connectivity into its “smart TVs.” But connecting a television to the Internet doesn’t by itself make the TV smarter. So Panasonic’s Merwan Mereby, vice president of content and services, is striving to make Internet-connected TVs smarter.

The problem with Internet usage on the TV is it is limited to things such as watching Netflix. Meanwhile, we’ve seen an explosion of mobile apps that have become indispensable to smartphone and tablet users. Mereby wants to see the same kind of usage on the TV. He sees that happening by adding web browsers and HTML5 capability, the lingua franca of the web, to TVs.

“That’s one of the main drivers behind this,” he said in an interview with VentureBeat. “We want content developers to create applications for a mobile device or any type of device, then you simply make it scale to the screen size and get it to work on the TV.”

In the past, web browsing on the TV has been a hard experience. Some TVs had Ethernet jacks built into them, but they were slow to open web pages because the TVs themselves had so little memory or processing power available for the task. And users preferred not to string wires into the living room.

Without a format like HTML5, the web-connected TVs didn’t have a common platform for running apps. It was a pain for developers to create apps for particular TV models. There were too many different user interfaces that required developers to tweak their code. And back in 2008, only about 20 percent of new TVs had Internet connectivity. This year, it will be about 70 percent.

“We had five different user interfaces in the past,” Mereby said. “Now we have one HTML5-based platform that applications can target.”

Now, more TVs are shipping with the Android operating system and powerful processors from companies like Intel, Broadcom, and Imagination Technologies. The Firefox browser and its accompanying operating system will be fully capable of running HTML5, and it may also be able to handle WebGL formats, which would allow for better 3D graphics animations.

One of the applications Mereby expects to see booming on the TV is home automation, or controlling things such as your thermostat, security locks and cameras, and other household appliances.

Game consoles can already do most of the things that Mereby envisions for smart TVs. But not every home will have a console or powerful set-top box. For those who don’t have those, the smart TV will be a viable option. Games will be a prime app for smart TVs, he said.

“There’s a natural progression on smart TVs being connected,” he said. “With 4K TVs, we’re going to have very powerful computers inside the TV.”

And if the processor and memory in the TV aren’t powerful enough, cloud-based virtualization, where the app runs in the cloud and is displayed on the TV, can get around the bottleneck of having too little hardware capability in the TV. Sony’s own PlayStation Now service, made possible through its Gaikai cloud gaming service acquisition, is an example of using the cloud to enhance the box.

Cloud gaming has had its hiccups, such as OnLive hitting a wall. But Mereby said, “I would not discount it. The streaming and latency issue will be solved. It comes down to the performance and the processing power. Can it be done on every single screen you have, or do you still need dedicated gaming hardware? If a consumer can buy one screen and it can handle it, they prefer it.”

Panasonic hopes to create a viable platform for apps by creating a user interface on TVs that promotes content discovery. It will be smart enough to make recommendations to you and to help you sort through massive libraries of content in the cloud.

“Content owners want this opportunity, and consumers are looking for it as well,” Mereby said.

LAS VEGAS — Few platforms have gone through as much drama as WebOS, which was developed by Palm to take on Apple’s iOS but was unceremoniously dumped by HP after it ran away screaming from its Palm acquisition.

Now WebOS’s newest owner, Korean electronics giant LG, is giving the platform a second (or perhaps third?) wind by building the operating system into its smart televisions. Today at its press conference at the huge 2014 International CES trade show, LG officially unveiled its WebOS TV platform, which focuses on simplicity for setup, application switching, and content discovery.

Though LG only showed off a few demo videos, its WebOS TV interface looks slick and appears to move fast. I’ve long waited for a TV platform that can multitask as well as a modern tablet, and it looks like WebOS could finally make that happen for LG. The company also showed off a simple setup process, which featured a cartoony bird and clear setup instructions.

LG plans to put WebOS in 56 percent of its new LED and LCD TVs this year. That’s a surprisingly strong push for a new platform, and it shows that LG thinks it has something truly special. The photo below also shows a large app and game store for its WebOS platform.

LG trotted out Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to praise the WebOS platform. Netflix worked together with LG to bring its service to the company’s Blu-ray players five years ago, and it sounds like the companies are once again collaborating on the new WebOS app. Hastings revealed that Netflix’s popular series House of Cards will be available on LG’s 4K HDTV sets this year (though we still don’t know how fast your web connection will need to be to stream those huge files).

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/06/lg-unveils-its-webos-tv-platform-focuses-on-simplicity-gets-netflixs-full-support/feed/0879412LG unveils its WebOS TV platform: focuses on simplicity, gets Netflix's full supportRoku unveils its line of Roku-powered smart TVs from TCL & Hisensehttp://venturebeat.com/2014/01/05/roku-unveils-its-like-of-roku-powered-smart-tvs-from-tcl-hisense/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/05/roku-unveils-its-like-of-roku-powered-smart-tvs-from-tcl-hisense/#respondMon, 06 Jan 2014 06:15:49 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=879296Roku wants to do for smart TVs what it’s already done with set-top boxes — that is, it wants to make them extremely popular and easy to use for people who have only ever used “dumb” TVs. Today the company is announcing a new line of Roku TVs, which are basically connected television sets running […]
]]>

Roku wants to do for smart TVs what it’s already done with set-top boxes — that is, it wants to make them extremely popular and easy to use for people who have only ever used “dumb” TVs.

Today the company is announcing a new line of Roku TVs, which are basically connected television sets running the same operating system Roku uses in its set-top boxes. Roku is teaming up with hardware partners Hisense and TCL for its line of Roku TVs.

The move makes sense for Roku because it’s taking the good will its built up with consumers and putting it towards a serious push for smart TVs. And as for Hisense and TCL, both don’t have millions of dollars to spend developing their own smart TV operating systems like Samsung and LG — so allowing Roku to power them is smart.

As for the TVs themselves, Roku said there will initially be six TV sets ranging from 32 to 55 inches. We don’t have a price point, but the company did note that the sets should be on the lower end of the pricing spectrum. The new sets should hit retail shelves in Fall 2014.

“How often has one family member not been able to use their smart TV because the other one wasn’t there to show them how to use [the controls]? We want to fix that by just making it really easy to use,” said Roku SVP of product management Jim Funk in an interview with VentureBeat.And Roku’s user interface is dead simple — with minimal steps to arrive at the content you want (via Roku channels aka apps.)

Funk said the company will also continue to pair its Roku Stick device with television sets that aren’t Internet capable. The new Roku TV line, he said, is sort of just a larger extension of this strategy.

Roku will be giving demos of the new TVs at its booth at CES this week. And since VentureBeat is covering CES, you should stay tuned for more info.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/05/roku-unveils-its-like-of-roku-powered-smart-tvs-from-tcl-hisense/feed/0879296Roku unveils its line of Roku-powered smart TVs from TCL & HisenseWebOS lives! LG to show off its first WebOS TV next weekhttp://venturebeat.com/2013/12/30/webos-lives-lg-to-show-off-its-first-webos-tv-next-week/
http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/30/webos-lives-lg-to-show-off-its-first-webos-tv-next-week/#commentsMon, 30 Dec 2013 14:08:08 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=877287LG always seemed like a strange buyer for WebOS, the slick mobile OS originally developed by Palm, but there’s a chance it could finally be the company to make WebOS succeed. After announcing earlier this year that it intended to put WebOS in its future smart televisions, LG is apparently gearing up to show off […]
]]>

LG always seemed like a strange buyer for WebOS, the slick mobile OS originally developed by Palm, but there’s a chance it could finally be the company to make WebOS succeed.

After announcing earlier this year that it intended to put WebOS in its future smart televisions, LG is apparently gearing up to show off its first WebOS TV next week at the International CES in Las Vegas, reports the Wall Street Journal.

LG bought WebOS from HP earlier this year after HP struggled to deliver a successful WebOS device. It was first developed by Palm as a direct iPhone competitor, but a delayed initial release and limited apps led to dismal adoption rates. HP eventually bought Palm but stumbled with its own attempts to keep Palm’s Pre smartphone line alive and release its own tablet (the ill-fated TouchPad).

Details are slim, but a source tells the WSJ that the TVs will keep WebOS’s “Card” interface, which allowed you to easily multitask between multiple applications (something that Apple’s iOS7 was clearly inspired by). And while LG said earlier this year that it didn’t plan to bring WebOS to other devices, the WSJ’s source says that may still be a possibility.

Over time, WebOS will likely replace LG’s own customer smart TV software. The company is also dabbling in Google TV, although even Google itself doesn’t seem to have much faith in that platform anymore. Samsung has also developed a custom OS for its smart TVs, and it’s working together with Intel to develop a new Tizen OS for its TVs and mobile gadgets.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/30/webos-lives-lg-to-show-off-its-first-webos-tv-next-week/feed/1877287WebOS lives! LG to show off its first WebOS TV next weekSorry, LG: No one’s buying your bullcrap excuseshttp://venturebeat.com/2013/11/21/sorry-lg-no-ones-buying-your-bullcrap-excuses/
http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/21/sorry-lg-no-ones-buying-your-bullcrap-excuses/#respondThu, 21 Nov 2013 22:45:14 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=863791Don't forget to take your daily recommended dose of skepticism! Sure to ward off a bad case of the press-release blues.
]]>

Rather, six out of the 100 people we polled are buying it. (We suspect these people are either happy children, Fox News viewers, or LG employees. God bless ’em.)

LG accomplished the corporate-consumer espionage by tracking Smart TV viewing data — even when the relevant features had been turned off by the user. The company has also been accused of tracking personal data and file names along with information such as viewing habits and broadcast sources.

LG issued a statement today promising to roll out a firmware upgrade to fix the glitch and eliminate unwanted spying for viewers who switch off certain Smart TV features.

However, we speculated that the new firmware would merely make the data-mining harder to expose. And according to a quick poll we conducted today, it seems our readers would agree.

Around 80 percent of our respondents said they didn’t believe LG would actually stop spying on its Smart TV owners regardless of the company’s statements to the contrary. Around 14 percent said they weren’t sure they could trust LG’s word on that subject.

And just 6 percent said they believed the company.

“Oh, no! I have an LG refrigerator … Let’s hope they are not collecting that data!” quipped one of our Twitter followers. “Joking aside, this is ridiculous of LG.”

Couldn’t agree with you more, pally!

Now all we have to do is stop buying LG’s sets and other “smart” TVs and over-the-top devices that track our viewing. Also all the apps that monitor what we watch, like Netflix and Hulu. And the social media posts we fire off every time someone dies in Game of Thrones.

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a TV set,
That had a feature to collect all the data it could get.
The set was an LG Smart TV, the feature wasn’t on.
LG still spied on you that day —
The feature was a con.
(The feature was a con!)

Oh, we like to have fun around here. But that’s the news in a nutshell: LG’s Smart TVs have been collecting data on users even when the “smart” features have been turned off. This data, including viewing habits, broadcast source, file names, etc., was being beamed back to the mothership’s data centers for probing.

Eventually, an intrepid blogger, one Doctor Beet, discovered that the data mining was going on around the clock and revealed the information he’d been able to gather.

Today, LG released a statement admitting the bug/feature in these TVs and promised a firmware update to correct the issue. The company also said it wasn’t collecting any personal data, only viewing data.

If we were gullible infants, we’d be totally on board for this explanation.

Here’s more from the statement:

“Information such as channel, TV platform, broadcast source, etc. that is collected by certain LG Smart TVs is not personal but viewing information. This information is collected as part of the Smart TV platform to deliver more relevant advertisements and to offer recommendations to viewers based on what other LG Smart TV owners are watching.

“We have verified that even when this function is turned off by the viewers, it continues to transmit viewing information although the data is not retained by the server. A firmware update is being prepared for immediate rollout that will correct this problem on all affected LG Smart TVs so when this feature is disabled, no data will be transmitted.”

How convenient that LG had no idea this was happening until Doc Beet brought the issue to light! And how beautifully timed is this firmware fix?

What a total load of malarkey. At least, that’s our take on it. What’s yours?

Take the one-question poll below and let us know whether you think LG’s explanation is legit or bull… mess.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet added LTE connectivity via the Verizon network and will be sold at Verizon stores. Samsung said the device will be available this month.

Wi-Fi-enabled cameras and camcorders

Samsung launched a line of updated cameras and camcorders than can be connected to Wi-Fi and automatically upload your latest photos and videos to the Web.

T9000 smart refrigerator

This $4000 refrigerator includes an LCD panel with an Evernote app for keeping track of important things. THe LCD display also shows apps for calendar, weather, and more. Oh yeah, it also has super fancy temperature and humidity controls. I rather like Gizmodo’s reaction piece to this absurd appliance.

As expected, Korean electronics titan Samsung has unveiled a series of feature-filled smart televisions with voice controls, a 110-inch Ultra HD 4K set, and a powerful 55-inch OLED TV.

Samsung has been a major player in the Smart TV race, and last year’s Samsung CES conference was filled with TV models that helped build a connected home with tablets and smartphones. Now it’s upgrading those experiences with the latest tech like 4K TVs, which are incredibly expensive but deliver stunning visuals.

Samsung showed off a variety of new TV models, including a number of LCDs and plasmas. The highlight was easily the announcement of the 110-inch ultra HD TV, which sounds like a concept but it’s still crazy. There’s also the 85-inch ultra HD TV set (pictured above), which was shown onstage and looks similar to the Toshiba 4K TV set we saw last night.

Samsung also showed off its 55-inch OLED TV, which it showed last year at CES but never released it to the market.

Samsung Smart Hub: Five intuitive panels help consumers manage and navigate different types of content, which are displayed as thumbnail images for the first time so it’s even easier to select and watch the content on the big screen. With a light hand gesture (flipping), you can discover five totally different experiences in Smart Hub, as if you have five new TV sets.

S-recommendation: Quickly and easily search for TV programs, premium video-on-demand, apps, social content and locally stored content on personal devices. The special recommendation engine also offers customized content recommendations for the most personal TV experience ever.

Advanced Smart Interaction: Use everyday language and casual gestures to find content or command and control the TV.

Content and device convergence with multiscreen features: Samsung’s Smart View allows you to move your content seamlessly between devices in real-time; AllShare connects the TV to compatible mobile devices and home appliances wirelessly and creates a smart center for media and whole-home automation. You also can mirror your TV content on compatible Samsung Galaxy tablets and phones.

Evolution Kit: Owners of flagship Samsung 2012 TVs will be able to update their TVs with the latest Smart TV features simply by slotting in this Evolution Kit without having to buy a new TV.

Even though I have a terrible track record for predicting the future, I find making predictions irresistible. It’s such an exciting time in the game industry that just about anything can happen. Things that I never thought would occur — such as Apple dominating in the sheer number of games on its platform — have now come to pass. The industry is full of disruption and change, from the smallest startups to the biggest companies, as the digital revolution sweeps through the industry. We are, after all, in the crossover era, when game companies invade new platforms. With so much change, the predictions become harder, but they’re also more fun to make.

We’re looking forward to announced games like Grand Theft Auto V and unannounced (but likely) titles such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. But many of these predictions below go beyond the impact of single launches. (Check out how I did with last year’s here). I have tapped some of our staff for help with them. And please vote for your favorites in our poll (in the web version of this story) and leave comments. Also, check out where we’ve been in the past in our predictions about the road ahead in gaming.

Mobile gets bigger

This trend isn’t a bubble. The growth of smartphone and tablet gaming is an inexorable trend. It’s a no-brainer that it will gather momentum in 2013. Mobile games account for 42 percent of all new game investments, according to investment bank Digi-Capital. Mobile devices are growing fast throughout the world, and we’ll soon have multiple billions of devices that are capable of playing games. Every company is adapting to this change by launching new versions of mobile titles, and many startups are focused on a “mobile first” or “mobile only” strategy. So far, nobody dominates this market.

Hardcore online games will match the quality of console games

Games like League of Legends and Hawken have shown that it’s possible to create great free-to-play hardcore online games as downloadable titles. Soon, you might be able to play these without downloads thanks to better browser technologies (such as WebGL or Chrome Native Client), which make use of 3D graphics hardware on a computer without the need for plug-ins. When the better rendering technology gains traction, then one of the last quality barriers will fall between online games and console titles. The ability to play high-end web games without delays will neutralize the advantage that console companies have had in the home. It will lower the cost of distribution and democratize gaming further. But once this new web publishing platform is more evenly distributed across the development community, the focus will have to be on making better games, not shoveling more out.

The battle royale for gaming will commence

To deal with the invasion of hardcore online titles, console makers will have to respond with something exciting and new. It’s going to be a world war of gaming in 2013 as big players duke it out. Traditional console makers Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft will go to war with the likes of Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Google. Microsoft has already set up a broader entertainment network on Xbox Live, but it could lose that position if it maintains its current high subscription fees and a dearth of free-to-play titles.

Apple and Google in particular may not launch “consoles” per se. Rather, if they compete in gaming, it will be an accidental byproduct of a strategy to compete for the hearts and minds of consumers on whatever platform they use. Those companies haven’t designed specifically for gamers, but their platforms have been ideal for developers and publishers trying to reach larger audiences. An Apple television would naturally be a platform for games. The newcomers will use free or 99-cent titles — as well as technologies that transfer images from a smartphone or tablet to a TV — as their wedge into the console space. We’ll see a battle for the living room like never before. And this battle royale will happen on all platforms wherever they’re used.

Microsoft and Sony will both announce and launch their next-generation systems

Chasing the Nintendo Wii U, Microsoft and Sony will announce their new consoles at E3 2013 in June, and at least one of them will introduce the new machine in the fall of 2013. Microsoft may not launch in 2013 since it has a leadership position now. But it shouldn’t try to milk that position and should instead get out ahead of its new challengers such as Apple and Google. Sony has more motivation to get into the market sooner since it came in third place in units sold in the last generation. But developer activity suggests that Microsoft is moving ahead faster with a broader group of allies.

Introducing a new console isn’t just a matter of willpower. It’s the result of mobilizing a whole ecosystem of suppliers, partners, developers, and publishers to support the effort. So while it may be a no-brainer to introduce sooner, the console makers may be forced to wait until 2014. They will also have to build their consoles around a new innovation, such as much better gesture controls, to make the gameplay more magical than it is today.

And if Sony and Microsoft know what’s good for them, they’ll embrace cloud gaming to reduce the cost of their consoles and deal with backward compatibility. And they will give users plenty of options for free-to-play, platform-agnostic gaming. (GamesBeat writer Kat Bailey is a fan of this idea.) They will both embrace free-to-play and cloud gaming. Any new console will thus have to be a hybrid of tradition and the new digital platforms. (Dan “Shoe” Hsu, the editor-in-chief of GamesBeat, fed me a version of this prediction.)

Nintendo’s Wii U console will fail

So far, the Wii U is selling out, but not in astounding numbers. And while games such as ZombiU are fine, they’re getting weak reviews on Metacritic. In fact, the highest rated game on the Wii U this season is Mass Effect 3: Special Edition, a retread of a game that has already been available on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. This isn’t the right way to launch a brand new console. While initial supplies may sell out, what will happen three months or six months from now as the novelty wears off and gamers await better-looking titles on the upcoming consoles or the PC?

Nintendo embraced the consumer love for tablets with its tablet-like controller, but that hasn’t put a dent in demand for tablets. In the context of a more competitive industry with multiplying choices, I don’t see the Wii U as a survivor. The best thing Nintendo can do is cut the price, and that’s never been a winning formula for long-term success. I’m hoping Nintendo surprises us, but I am not counting on it.

Smart TV games will finally become a reality

This prediction crystallizes several of the trends already mentioned. Apple still hasn’t introduced its television. If and when it does, apps will come to the connected TV, nicknamed the Smart TV, in a very big way. But while Apple may eventually validate this trend, the market won’t wait for one company. In the meantime, Google will keep pushing on Google TV. Manufacturers like LG, Samsung, and Vizio are pushing hard on cloud gaming on the TV, where all you need to play is a web connection and a game controller. Ouya hopes to enter this market with a $99 box in the spring that will move Android games onto this same screen.

The business model enabled by apps on the TV is very attractive for consumers. Free-to-play or 99 cent apps may be good enough for a lot of players, particularly if there is a path to high-end hardcore games as well. Gesture or voice-recognition technologies will add novelty to the Smart TV gaming experience. Given the option to forgo the expense of $60 games and $300 consoles, many consumers are likely to prefer playing unified apps on TVs that can also be played on tablets and smartphones. That could ignite a huge wave of gaming consumption.

Gesture technologies will take off

Motion-sensing technologies like the Nintendo Wii remote, Microsoft’s Kinect for the Xbox 360, and the Sony PlayStation Move were just the start. Intel calls the new era of gestures “perceptual computing.” Controlling a game or computing device with your hands, body, or voice could become much more accurate in the next generation. Kinect’s accuracy trailed off if you got too close to the TV. But startups such as Softkinetic have demonstrated that gestures work well just inches away from a laptop’s webcam now. This helps make general computing easier just as touch screens do with Windows 8. But the possibilities for gaming become much more interesting with precise technologies that can detect small finger movements as well as the activity of everyone in a room. And these gestures don’t have to be limited to PCs or consoles. They could also be integrated over time into smartphones and tablets. Intel itself promises to launch perceptual computing in 2013.

First-person shooter games will grab market share on tablets

Based on what I’ve seen so far of The Drowning (pictured right), which is being developed by Scattered Entertainment and will be published in 2013 by DeNA’s Ngmoco, I’m convinced that first-person shooter games will finally take hold on tablets. The Drowning has a clever gesture-based user interface that works with touch screens — something that shooters haven’t done well so far. If you tap two fingers on the screen, your weapon will fire at the midpoint. Tap one on the screen, and your character will move to where you tap. And swipe the screen to turn your characters head. It’s simple, and it is just one example of how the multibillion-dollar shooter business could make its way onto tablets. And it means that mobile games will be playable without a game controller.

The game controller will become the king maker

Startups like PrimeA (maker of Moga controllers) and Green Throttle Games want to turn the humble game controller into something more important. They can do so if the above trend doesn’t work out so well and gamers prefer to play their mobile games with traditional handheld controllers.

Green Throttle is creating a cool user interface app that allows you to use its controller to play Android apps on a TV, connected to your smartphone or tablet via a HDMI cable. (If better Wi-Fi technology comes along, this will get easier to do.) With controllers used in this way, Android games can invade the realm of the $60 console game. The controller could blast a hole through the barrier between two segments of the game market.

The barriers will come down between real-money gambling and social casino games

Likewise, the barriers are coming down between real-money online gambling and social casino games, where the winnings are merely virtual casino chips.

Startups like Betable enable social casino games to be converted to real-money online gambling in territories where it’s legal. Zynga is counting on changes in U.S. laws to enter the real-money gambling market, but it will launch in the crowded United Kingdom market first. Facebook has also embraced real-money gambling by allowing Gamesys to launch such games in the U.K.

This will set up a clash. The social casino game operators have the biggest games like Zynga Poker but the lowest revenues per paying user. Online gambling firms make a lot of money from relatively few heavy gamblers.

But marrying the two businesses will make it much easier for the online gambling firms to recruit potential high rollers for low costs. Meanwhile, U.S. states and the federal government are loosening the restrictions on online gambling. This trend may take years to play out, but it will gather more momentum in 2013.

eSports will take off

Gaming has been a professional sport for a while, but with releases such as League of Legends from Riot Games, it is gathering momentum. Rising in parallel with this trend is the livestreaming of games enabled by Twitch, which has been integrated into the online shooter Planetside 2 (pictured right). Community has also become a much bigger deal in ensuring the success of a game, according to gamer social network Raptr. That’s because the improved engagement that comes with promoting the community around a game leads to higher awareness, revenues, and profits.

ESports have been growing in countries such as China and South Korea, but Major League Gaming, WCG, and other leagues are offering bigger prizes and more venues for gigantic tournaments. And it’s no surprise that Activision built livestreaming, shoutcasting (narrated games), spectating, and league play into Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Gamemakers should already know that you don’t just milk your users. Give them what they want, and they will pay you back many times over. Let’s hope that more companies are going to learn the lesson: It’s the community, stupid. (GamesBeat writer Rus McLaughlin suggested a version of this prediction.)

Gamification will continue to spread the influence of games

Gamification, or the use of game mechanics to increase engagement in nongame applications, is the path to spread game thinking far and wide. It has applications in everything from fitness devices that encourage you to exercise to enterprise applications that reward you for completing tutorials.

Badgeville, Big Door, and Bunchball are providing the services for all kinds of companies to embrace gamification, either by rewarding consumers and employees with achievements or leading them to compete with rivals through leaderboards. A lot of these efforts will fail as many games do. But the ones that are done right could lead to a big expansion in engagement and usage. Gamification is in its hype stage, but the reality will start setting in during 2013 as to what works and what doesn’t. And it will carry the flag for gaming into all circles of business.

Take Our Poll
]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/28/the-deanbeat-game-industry-predictions-for-2013/feed/0595362The DeanBeat: Game industry predictions for 2013Upcoming Google TV box will have Airplay-like features — from an unlikely sourcehttp://venturebeat.com/2012/06/06/honeywld-google-tv-airplay/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/06/06/honeywld-google-tv-airplay/#commentsWed, 06 Jun 2012 16:05:47 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=469129One feature that’s been noticeably absent from Google TV, Google’s connected-TV platform, is something akin to Apple’s AirPlay, which allows iPad and iPhone the ability to stream content directly to Apple TV. But the little-known Taiwanese manufacturer Honeywld is working to change that. Its upcoming Google TV set-top box will be able to receive streaming content directly […]
]]>

One feature that’s been noticeably absent from Google TV, Google’s connected-TV platform, is something akin to Apple’s AirPlay, which allows iPad and iPhone the ability to stream content directly to Apple TV. But the little-known Taiwanese manufacturer Honeywld is working to change that.

Its upcoming Google TV set-top box will be able to receive streaming content directly from Android tablets and smartphones, the company told IDGNews. This will allow users to very easily move content from smaller screens to their televisions.

Alongside video, the device will also be able to synchronize other media content like music and pictures. To do this, users will have to install a special app onto their smartphones and tablets that will allow the streaming. Honeywld says the app is still in development.

On the hardware side, the device comes equipped with 1GB RAM, 4GB flash storage, a MicroSD card slot, and HDMI and Ethernet ports.

There are some complications, however. First, Honeywld is a tiny, tiny company, and its staff of 40 people won’t be able to bring the box’s production up to a global scale. To solve this, the company told IDG that it hopes to get a larger company to buy it from them and resell it globally.

There’s also the very real chance that Google will include the streaming functionality in the next version of the Google TV OS, which will make whatever Honeywld rolls out pretty superfluous.

Google’s response to this notion was, predictably, pretty vague. “We see lots of potential in having all of your living room devices work together, whether that’s from us or from our growing developer community,” a Google TV spokesperson told VentureBeat. What this means for the future is anyone’s guess, but it still seems pretty likely that Google would introduce the streaming feature in the future.

There’s also the matter of price. Honeywld plans to sell the device for somewhere around $100, which seems like a lot to ask for a device that only has 4GB of flash storage.

But what’s good news here is that manufacturers, even the tiniest of ones, haven’t yet given up hope on Google’s television ambitions. With some high-profile failures, it’s been a tough road for Google TV, but if the recent resurgence on support is any indication, the platform could be on its way back up.

Design is determining the winners in everything mobile. The most successful players are focusing on one thing: How to make products, services, and devices as compelling and delightful as possible – visually, and experientially. MobileBeat 2012, July 10-11 in San Francisco , is assembling the most elite minds to debate how UI/UX is transforming every aspect of the mobile economy, and where the opportunities lie. Register here.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/06/06/honeywld-google-tv-airplay/feed/1469129Upcoming Google TV box will have Airplay-like features — from an unlikely sourceLG shows off the best Google TV yet, with motion controls, dual-core CPU, 3Dhttp://venturebeat.com/2012/05/14/lg-google-tv-sets/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/14/lg-google-tv-sets/#respondMon, 14 May 2012 21:42:54 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=431471When we first learned LG would be launching its crop of Google TV sets this month, I asked “will anyone care?” — now after seeing LG’s G2 series in action, I’m surprised to report that plenty of consumers just may. With slick motion control technology and a speedy dual-core CPU, LG’s G2 sets are certainly […]
]]>

With slick motion control technology and a speedy dual-core CPU, LG’s G2 sets are certainly the most powerful Google TV devices so far. LG also has the privilege of offering the first 3D-capable Google TVs. Even better, the sets are passive 3D, so you can use cheaper plastic 3D glasses instead of the expensive rechargeable variety.

The Korean TV-maker debuted its G2 Google TVs today at Internet Week New York, an annual event where NYC celebrates technology and digital culture. I chatted with Georg Rasinski, director of LG’s home electronics brand management, who was kind enough to demonstrate the G2 series for us (see below).

What truly differentiates LG’s Google TV entries is the company’s motion-control “Magic Remote.” Waving LG’s remote around felt smoother than using Sony or Logitech’s Google TV trackpads, and it was surprisingly accurate. The remote uses technology from Hillcrest Labs called Freespace, it uses built-in inertial sensors to capture motion without any external sensors.

The Magic Remote itself feels nice, with a rounded portion that makes it comfy in your hand. There is a scroll wheel on the front, along with the most commonly used Google TV buttons, and a full QWERTY thumb keyboard on the back.

LG’s Google TV interface also looks dramatically different from the GTV devices I’ve used from Sony and Logitech. They’re running Google TV 2.0, but LG has also heavily customized the home screen with a 3D interface. It gives you quick access to a variety of apps and bookmarks.

The Google TV experience was noticeably faster on LG’s sets, which I mostly attribute to the company’s fast dual-core CPU. The G2 series is powered by LG’s custom ARM-based L9 processor, the first dual-core chip in a Google TV device. Eventually, the L9 will make its way to LG’s other flagship sets, but it’s making its debut on the G2 series.

Rasinski said that Internet Week ended up being perfectly timed for the Google TV launch. Last week, an LG exec announced that the company would begin building the sets this week, with retail availability to follow next week. That’s a fast turnaround for any company, but Rasinski tells me that LG wanted to roll out its Google TV offering as quickly as possible.

LG’s G2 Series Google TVs will be available in 47-inch and 55-inch models beginning next week at $1,699 and $2,299 respectively.

[vb_gallery id=431775]

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/14/lg-google-tv-sets/feed/0431471LG shows off the best Google TV yet, with motion controls, dual-core CPU, 3DLG’s Google TV set debuts this month — but will anyone care?http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/07/lg-google-tv-may/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/07/lg-google-tv-may/#commentsMon, 07 May 2012 13:42:54 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=426878After announcing that it’s jumping into the Google TV fray at CES in January, an LG executive said today that it will begin building and shipping the sets later this month. But, with Google TV’s lukewarm welcome by consumers, and a non-existent Apple television set grabbing headlines, will LG fare better than Google’s first round […]
]]>

After announcing that it’s jumping into the Google TV fray at CES in January, an LG executive said today that it will begin building and shipping the sets later this month. But, with Google TV’s lukewarm welcome by consumers, and a non-existent Apple television set grabbing headlines, will LG fare better than Google’s first round of partners?

Ro Seogho, an executive vice president in LG’s TV business, told Reuters that the company will start building the Google TV sets on May 17, and that consumers will be able to buy the sets starting the week of May 21.

Google TV launched in late 2010 as Google’s attempt to bring web video to TVs. The Android powered-platform brings Google search, web browsing, and most recently apps, to your television screen. But despite plenty of promise, it failed to take off initially due to sluggish speeds and lack of support from TV networks. Logitech famously gave up on Google TV last year after blaming it for a $100 million loss.

LG isn’t offering up any other details, like screen size or pricing. But from the report, I gather that Seogho isn’t referring to the “Nexus” Google TV set LG was rumored to be working on (which would run a much newer version of Google TV than existing devices). Without that Nexus designation, though, there doesn’t seem to be much to differentiate LG’s sets from Google TV products already available from Sony and Logitech.

I’m also not sure why LG is in such a rush to bring GTV sets to market. Google TV hasn’t been updated since last Fall (though that update offered some significant improvements), and it doesn’t give LG much time to promote the new sets. Wouldn’t the No. 2 television maker in the world have something to say about a significant new product line?

It could be that Google has a big Google TV update that it’s going to debut with LG’s sets, or LG is just bringing the sets to market without much effort to fulfill a contractual obligation.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/07/lg-google-tv-may/feed/1426878LG’s Google TV set debuts this month — but will anyone care?Mark Cuban believes in social TV, tops off Flingo’s fundinghttp://venturebeat.com/2012/05/02/mark-cuban-believes-in-social-tv-tops-off-flingos-funding/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/02/mark-cuban-believes-in-social-tv-tops-off-flingos-funding/#respondWed, 02 May 2012 23:11:16 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=425469Flingo, one of the largest smart TV app publishers, has received another $1 million in funding from entrepreneur Mark Cuban, bringing its total first round to $8 million. As the company tells it, Cuban first learned about Flingo while strolling by its CES booth earlier this year. After catching a glimpse at the company’s social […]
]]>

Flingo, one of the largest smart TV app publishers, has received another $1 million in funding from entrepreneur Mark Cuban, bringing its total first round to $8 million.

As the company tells it, Cuban first learned about Flingo while strolling by its CES booth earlier this year. After catching a glimpse at the company’s social TV platform, Cuban quickly struck up a conversation with Flingo CEO Ashwin Navin and wiggled his way into the funding round. He’s leading the additional funding together with Gary Lauder, managing director of Lauder Partners. In February, Flingo announced that it raised $7 million from August Capital.

“I’m excited to be part of the Flingo experience,” Cuban — owner of the arthouse cinema chain Landmark and Magnolia Pictures, and chairman of HDNet — said in a statement today. “I truly believe the future of TV is social TV and Flingo will be one of the companies out front.”

Flingo has developed a technology, dubbed SyncApps, that can detect what you’re watching in just a few seconds and communicate that information to your television, smartphone, or computer. Think of it like a location-based service for what you’re watching. SyncApps eliminates the need to track down hashtags or other content related to what you’re viewing, allowing you to seamlessly interact with content while you’re watching it.

The company says it will use the funding to expand its presence among smart TV and device makers. It already has partnerships with Samsung, LG, Vizio, and Western Digital. Navin calls Cuban’s support a “tremendous validation” of the company.

Flingo was founded in 2008 by former early Bittorrent employees Ashwin Navin, Alvir Navin, and David Harrison. The company currently has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and other cities.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/02/mark-cuban-believes-in-social-tv-tops-off-flingos-funding/feed/0425469Mark Cuban believes in social TV, tops off Flingo’s fundingLG, Unity Technologies team up to bring video games to Smart TVshttp://venturebeat.com/2012/02/07/lg-unity-technologies-team-up-to-bring-video-games-to-smart-tvs/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/07/lg-unity-technologies-team-up-to-bring-video-games-to-smart-tvs/#respondWed, 08 Feb 2012 00:11:25 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=387557Unity Technologies and electronics manufacturing giant LG are teaming up to bring video games to Smart TVs in 2012. The deal is similar to one LG recently made with cloud gaming service Gaikai and is all part of the company’s plan to market its line of products as all-in-one multimedia systems. Unity Technologies is the […]
]]>Unity Technologies and electronics manufacturing giant LG are teaming up to bring video games to Smart TVs in 2012.

The deal is similar to one LG recently made with cloud gaming service Gaikai and is all part of the company’s plan to market its line of products as all-in-one multimedia systems.

Unity Technologies is the creator of the Unity development platform, which allows users to create and distribute interactive 3D and 2D content to mobile phones, app stores, tablets, set-top boxes, connected TVs and more. The company boasts a thriving community of 750,000 registered developers, including large publishers, indie studios, students, and hobbyists, and says it plans to make numerous games available on upcoming LG models in the near future through its business division Union.

“The television technology LG is introducing this year is very impressive and offers an incredible opportunity for the developers under the Union umbrella to reach a new market,” said David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies. “Our goal with Union is to create new avenues of distribution for developers using Unity, and LG smart TVs are creating a massive and new gaming audience.”

LG’s 2012 HDTV models feature the ability to play video games without the need for a console through a powerful video processor and the Magic Motion Remote, a gyroscopic motion controller. LG Head of Content Division Sang-Woo Lee says adding Unity’s huge catalog of titles to the lineup already available on his company’s TVs will boost their value to consumers looking to choose a HDTV model and help make them the most comprehensive platform for entertainment on the market.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/07/lg-unity-technologies-team-up-to-bring-video-games-to-smart-tvs/feed/0387557LG, Unity Technologies team up to bring video games to Smart TVsFlingo raises $7M to bring social TV to every networkhttp://venturebeat.com/2012/02/07/flingo-raises-7m/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/07/flingo-raises-7m/#respondTue, 07 Feb 2012 16:29:20 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=387344One of the largest TV app publishers you’ve never heard of, Flingo, announced today that it has raised an additional $7 million from August Capital, which will help the company bring its Social TV technology to more devices and television networks. Flingo has developed a technology, dubbed SyncApps, that can detect what you’re watching in just […]
]]>One of the largest TV app publishers you’ve never heard of, Flingo, announced today that it has raised an additional $7 million from August Capital, which will help the company bring its Social TV technology to more devices and television networks.

Flingo has developed a technology, dubbed SyncApps, that can detect what you’re watching in just a few seconds and communicate that information to your television, smartphone, or computer. Think of it like a location-based service for what you’re watching. SyncApps eliminates the need to track down hashtags or other content related to what you’re viewing, allowing you to seamlessly interact with content while you’re watching it.

For example, Flingo recently launched a service that lets you share what you’re watching on TV with Twitter or Facebook with a single click. While TV check-in apps like Miso are popular among techies, Flingo offers a way for mainstream users to share their viewing habits with friends without much effort. Flingo’s technology could also serve to improve apps like Miso by making it easier to find the content you’re watching.

Flingo already has partnerships with A&E and the History Channel to use its social TV framework , but the company expects to use its new funding to reach every network in North America. The company’s technology is already available on over 7.8 million screens in 118 countries worldwide.

Flingo was founded in 2008 by former early Bittorrent employees Ashwin Navin, Alvir Navin, and David Harrison. The company currently has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and other cities.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/07/flingo-raises-7m/feed/0387344Flingo raises $7M to bring social TV to every networkCES Day 2 was full of smart TVs, super-thin Ultrabooks, and a tweet choir (video)http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/10/ces-day-2-video/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/10/ces-day-2-video/#respondTue, 10 Jan 2012 16:38:47 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=374878While Sunday was the unofficial start to CES 2012, the real fun began on Monday with press conferences and announcements from heavy hitters like LG, Intel, Sharp, Samsung, Nvidia, Sony and Microsoft. At the end of that incredibly busy day, fellow VentureBeatnik Dean Takahashi and I decided to chat about how the events unfolded and […]
]]>

While Sunday was the unofficial start to CES 2012, the real fun began on Monday with press conferences and announcements from heavy hitters like LG, Intel, Sharp, Samsung, Nvidia, Sony and Microsoft.

At the end of that incredibly busy day, fellow VentureBeatnik Dean Takahashi and I decided to chat about how the events unfolded and what stood out from the pack. Notably, smart TVs for home and business, thin-and-light Ultrabook laptops, the upcoming Windows 8 operating system and a jarring, funny performance of tweets by a choir were what made the most impact on us.

The day’s major CES events officially concluded with the final Microsoft keynote, where a choir sang tweets about Microsoft products. But after that, Dean and I made our way to the Pepcom showcase of products that ties into CES. We walked the floor and saw few interesting things, including fitness technology from Striiv and an iPhone-controlled toy from Sphero.

Watch the video above for more on CES Day 2, and look for more CES stories coming at you this week. Plus, here’s a shortlist of Monday’s biggest CES stories:

For more news out of this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, be sure to check out VentureBeat’s live coverage from CES 2012.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/10/ces-day-2-video/feed/0374878CES Day 2 was full of smart TVs, super-thin Ultrabooks, and a tweet choir (video)Sony aims to deliver 300M connected devices in the next 3 yearshttp://venturebeat.com/2012/01/09/sony-aims-to-deliver-300m-connected-devices-in-the-next-3-years/
http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/09/sony-aims-to-deliver-300m-connected-devices-in-the-next-3-years/#respondTue, 10 Jan 2012 01:07:54 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=374631Sony kicked off its CES press conference today with a stunning montage of 3D projected footage, which not only set the tone for the electronics giant’s presentation, but also made this writer desperately want a new 3D projector. Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer didn’t waste any time with bold proclamations when he stepped on stage. […]
]]>

Sony kicked off its CES press conference today with a stunning montage of 3D projected footage, which not only set the tone for the electronics giant’s presentation, but also made this writer desperately want a new 3D projector.

Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer didn’t waste any time with bold proclamations when he stepped on stage. He said that Sony will deliver more than 300 million connected devices to consumers in the next three years, which includes everything from smart TVs to the upcoming PlayStation Vita handheld.

Kaz Hirai, Sony’s PlayStation boss (and potential replacement for Stringer), discussed how the company is intertwined with the connected media world, starting with its Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited streaming media services. Hirai announced today that music unlimited now covers 13 countries, including recent additions like Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Shockingly, Hirai also said the Music Unlimited will be available at launch for the PlayStation Vita in the U.S.

Hirai showed off a new service called PlayMemories that will work across multiple Sony device to share photos and video. Basically, it looks like Sony’s version of Apple’s iCloud Photostream, with the big benefit of being accessible on the PlayStation 3.

On the topic of games, Hirai said that 6.5 million units of all PlayStation systems were sold to users worldwide. As of January 5th, the PlayStation Vita has sold more than 500,000 units since its December 16, 2010 launch in Japan. Hirai also assured the audience that Netflix is working to support the Vita when it launches in the U.S.

Following Sony’s buyout of Ericsson from their joint mobile venture, the company is now renaming its mobile arm Sony Mobile Communications, Hirai announced. Future smartphones and tablets from the company will bear the Sony brand, not surprisingly.

Hirai unveiled two of the company’s new smartphones: the Xperia Ion, its first 4G phone (which AT&T announced this morning as an exclusive), and the thin Xperia S. The Ion will be available on AT&T in Spring, and the Xperia S will launch globally in March.

On the TV front, the company has a new Google TV set-top box with Blu-ray capabilities in the works, as well as a stylish new Google TV remote with a built-in mic for voice commands. To make Internet content look better on big screens, Sony’s new Xreality Pro engine will process web video to get rid of compression artifacts. The company also has new ultra-light 1.3 ounce 3D glasses on the way made out of titanium.

Changing gears yet again (this happens a lot in big company press conferences), Sony discussed 4K technology, which it touts as having “more than four times” the resolution of 1080p HD content. The company’s projectors are powering 4K screens in over 10,000 theaters worldwide.

Sony then trotted out Men in Black III star Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld. (Putting on my movie critic hat for a second, this movie doesn’t have a chance folks.)

For more gadget news, be sure to check out VentureBeat’s live coverage from CES 2012.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/09/sony-aims-to-deliver-300m-connected-devices-in-the-next-3-years/feed/0374631Sony aims to deliver 300M connected devices in the next 3 yearsWith a facelift and Android apps, Google TV may finally live up to its potentialhttp://venturebeat.com/2011/10/28/google-tv-android-3-update/
http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/28/google-tv-android-3-update/#respondFri, 28 Oct 2011 17:22:24 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=345888A year after Google TV’s middling launch, Google is finally ready to take another stab at its ambitious smart TV platform. The company announced today that the long-awaited GTV update, which brings with it a revamped interface, Android apps, and more, will start to roll out next week. I was a bigger fan than most […]
]]>

A year after Google TV’s middling launch, Google is finally ready to take another stab at its ambitious smart TV platform.

The company announced today that the long-awaited GTV update, which brings with it a revamped interface, Android apps, and more, will start to roll out next week.

I was a bigger fan than most of Google TV — I’m actually still using it daily — but the platform’s problems have become increasingly grating over the last year. It’s slow, the interface is ugly and hard to use at times, and it has a surprisingly small number of available apps (especially compared to other TV platforms from Samsung, Vizio, and others). The lack of Hulu support also burns, especially since Hulu Plus apps are available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and elsewhere.

Still, I’m a believer in Google TV’s potential to reshape the way we watch television. With this latest update, GTV’s biggest one yet, it looks like my hopes for the platform are one step closer to reality.

The update brings Android 3.1 Honeycomb to Google TV (although by this point, Android 4.0 is all the rage), which alone should make the platform faster and more stable. GTV will also finally get access to the Android Market — though Google says apps that require touchscreens, GPS, and telephone access won’t show up. That means there will be a small number of apps available at the start (Google says over 50 developers have apps ready to go), but it’s still an improvement over the the current handful of apps on GTV. One of the new apps is AOL HD, which is made up of HD content from AOL sites like Engadget and the Huffington Post.

Google TV’s interface is now much smoother and less intrusive than its first iteration. The home screen is now customizable and relies on icons, instead of archaic text menus. There’s also a new “TV and Movies” app that makes it easy to find content across cable or satellite, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, and other sources. It also takes advantage of Google TV’s recommendations engine to suggest new content.

The YouTube experience on Google TV also appears to be vastly improved. Google unveiled its gorgeous HTML5-powered YouTube Leanback interface last year, but it was always a bit slow on Google TV. The company says it now has a YouTube app built specifically for GTV, which should be faster to navigate and should better handle high-definition videos.

The Google TV update will begin to roll out to Sony GTV televisions and its Internet TV Blu-ray player next week, while the Logitech Revue box will receive it later. The company also hinted that we’ll see even more updates over the next few months, as well as new devices sporting better hardware.

]]>http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/28/google-tv-android-3-update/feed/0345888With a facelift and Android apps, Google TV may finally live up to its potential